Intellectual property exchange ecosystem for additive manufacturing

ABSTRACT

According to some embodiments, a system may include an additive manufacturing platform that provides additive manufacturing capability data. A customer platform, associated with a customer, may transmit an industrial asset item request for an industrial asset item. A digital transaction engine may receive the additive manufacturing capability data and the industrial asset item request. The digital transaction engine may then associate the industrial asset item request with an industrial asset definition file, and, based on the additive manufacturing capability data and the industrial asset definition file, assign the industrial asset item request to the additive manufacturing platform. The assignment of the industrial asset item request may be recorded via a secure, distributed transaction ledger. Responsive to the assignment, the additive manufacturing platform may create the industrial asset item (e.g., via an additive manufacturing printer) and provide the item to the customer.

BACKGROUND

Some embodiments disclosed herein relate to industrial assets and, moreparticularly, to an intellectual property exchange ecosystem for theadditive manufacture of industrial asset items.

A customer might want to obtain an industrial asset item, such as anozzle for a jet engine, a replacement part for a wind turbine, etc. Insome cases, the customer might be able to have the part created by oneof a number of different additive manufacturing platforms. Note thatdifferent additive manufacturing platforms might have different itemcreation capabilities. For example, different platforms might utilizedifferent three-dimensional printers, with different printingresolutions, different powders, etc. Moreover, different platforms mightbe associated with different prices, different turnaround times, etc.Selecting an appropriate additive manufacturing platform can bedifficult and error-prone task for the customer. Likewise, an additivemanufacturing platform might be unaware that a particular customer isinterested in obtaining a particular item. Such problems can beespecially difficult when there are a relatively large number ofcustomer, items, and/or additive manufacturing platforms. In addition,customers might be wary of obtaining items that have not been producedin accordance with pre-determined requirements (e.g., poorly designedparts, counterfeit items, etc.). It would therefore be desirable toprovide systems and methods to efficiently and accurately facilitatecreation of an industrial asset item.

SUMMARY

According to some embodiments, a system may include an additivemanufacturing platform that provides additive manufacturing capabilitydata. A customer platform, associated with a customer, may transmit anindustrial asset item request for an industrial asset item. A digitaltransaction engine may receive the additive manufacturing capabilitydata and the industrial asset item request. The digital transactionengine may then associate the industrial asset item request with anindustrial asset definition file, and, based on the additivemanufacturing capability data and the industrial asset definition file,assign the industrial asset item request to the additive manufacturingplatform. The assignment of the industrial asset item request may berecorded via a secure, distributed transaction ledger. Responsive to theassignment, the additive manufacturing platform may create theindustrial asset item (e.g., via an additive manufacturing printer) andprovide the item to the customer.

Some embodiments comprise: means for receiving, at a digital transactionengine from an additive manufacturing platform, an indication ofadditive manufacturing capability data; means for receiving, at thedigital transaction engine from a customer platform, associated with acustomer, an industrial asset item request for the industrial assetitem; means for associating the industrial asset item request with anindustrial asset definition file; based on the additive manufacturingcapability data and the industrial asset definition file, means forassigning the industrial asset item request to the additivemanufacturing platform; and means for recording the assignment of theindustrial asset item request via a secure, distributed transactionledger.

Technical effects of some embodiments of the invention may includeimproved and computerized ways to efficiently and accurately facilitatecreation of an industrial asset item. With these and other advantagesand features that will become hereinafter apparent, a more completeunderstanding of the nature of the invention can be obtained byreferring to the following detailed description and to the drawingsappended hereto.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a high-level block diagram of a digital transaction systemaccording to some embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a method that may be associated with an additive manufacturingplatform in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a method that may be associated with a digital transactionengine in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates elements of a phased approach to core digitaltransaction technology in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an additive digital ecosystem according tosome embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a high-level block diagram of a digital transaction systemaccording to another embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an additive part production chain enabled by a digitaltransaction engine in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a system implementing a digital transaction with blockchainvalidation according to some embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a system implementing a digital transaction with multipledigital transaction engines in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 10 illustrates a platform according to some embodiments.

FIG. 11 is a portion of a tabular transaction database in accordancewith some embodiments.

FIG. 12 is a distributed ledger reference architecture according to someembodiments.

FIG. 13 illustrates a computer display in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 14 illustrates a tablet computer providing a display according tosome embodiments.

FIG. 15 is a high-level block diagram of an intellectual propertymarketplace system in accordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are setforth in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments.However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the artthat the embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. Inother instances, well-known methods, procedures, components and circuitshave not been described in detail so as not to obscure the embodiments.

One or more specific embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed below. In an effort to provide a concise description of theseembodiments, all features of an actual implementation may not bedescribed in the specification. It should be appreciated that in thedevelopment of any such actual implementation, as in any engineering ordesign project, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be madeto achieve the developers' specific goals, such as compliance withsystem-related and business-related constraints, which may vary from oneimplementation to another. Moreover, it should be appreciated that sucha development effort might be complex and time consuming, but wouldnevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication, andmanufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefit of thisdisclosure.

It may generally be desirable to efficiently and accurately facilitatecreation of an industrial asset item. FIG. 1 is a high-level blockdiagram of a system 100 according to some embodiments. In particular,the system 100 includes a digital transaction engine 150 with acommunication port to exchange information with a number of customerplatforms 110. According to some embodiments, the digital transactionengine 150 receives an industrial asset item request from one of thecustomer platforms 110 and assigns the request to one of a number ofadditive manufacturing platforms 160. Each additive manufacturingplatform 160 might include and/or be associated with an additivemanufacturing database 170 (e.g., storing a printer version number, amaximum resolution of a printer, powder specifics, a minimum turnaroundtime for a newly received job, etc.) and a three-dimensional printer180. According to some embodiments, the digital transaction engine 150and/or other elements of the system may then record information aboutthe transaction using a secure, distributed transaction ledger 190(e.g., via a blockchain verification process). For example, the digitaltransaction engine 150 might record an order date and time, a price, abid, etc. via the secure, distributed transaction ledger 190 inaccordance with any of the embodiments described herein. According tosome embodiments, the distributed ledger might be associated with theHYPERLEDGER® blockchain verification system. Note that the digitaltransaction engine 150 could be completely de-centralized and/or mightbe associated with a third party, such as a vendor that performs aservice for an enterprise.

The digital transaction engine 150, customer platform 110, and/oradditive manufacturing platform 160 might be, for example, associatedwith a Personal Computer (“PC”), laptop computer, a tablet computer, asmartphone, an enterprise server, a server farm, and/or a database orsimilar storage devices. According to some embodiments, an “automated”digital transaction engine 150 may automatically provide a service forthe customer platform 110 and record information via a distributedledger (e.g., via a blockchain verification process). As used herein,the term “automated” may refer to, for example, actions that can beperformed with little (or no) intervention by a human.

As used herein, devices, including those associated with the digitaltransaction engine 150 and any other device described herein, mayexchange information via any communication network which may be one ormore of a Local Area Network (“LAN”), a Metropolitan Area Network(“MAN”), a Wide Area Network (“WAN”), a proprietary network, a PublicSwitched Telephone Network (“PSTN”), a Wireless Application Protocol(“WAP”) network, a Bluetooth network, a wireless LAN network, and/or anInternet Protocol (“IP”) network such as the Internet, an intranet, oran extranet. Note that any devices described herein may communicate viaone or more such communication networks.

The digital transaction engine 150 may store information into and/orretrieve information from data stores. The data stores might, forexample, store electronic records representing prior transactions,transactions current in process, etc. The data stores may be locallystored or reside remote from the digital transaction engine 150.Although a single digital transaction engine 150 is shown in FIG. 1, anynumber of such devices may be included. Moreover, various devicesdescribed herein might be combined according to embodiments of thepresent invention. For example, in some embodiments, the digitaltransaction engine 150, data stores, and/or other devices might beco-located and/or may comprise a single apparatus.

In this way, the system 100 may efficiently and accurately facilitatecreation of an industrial asset item. For example, at (A) the additivemanufacturing platform 160 may obtain additive manufacturing capabilitydata from the additive manufacturing database 170 and provide thatinformation to the digital transaction engine 150 at (B). At (C), thecustomer platform 110 may transmit an industrial asset item request tothe digital transaction engine 150. The digital transaction engine 150may then assign the request one of the additive manufacturing platforms160 (e.g., by transmitting a definition file to the platform 160 thatwas capable of producing the item at the lowest cost). The additivemanufacturing platform 160 can then communicate with thethree-dimensional printer 180 at (D) to initiate a printing process.Note that each step or subset of the steps of the transaction may berecorded in the secure, distributed transaction ledger 190 at (E). Whencreated, the completed item may be provided to the customer at (F) (asillustrated by the dashed arrow in FIG. 1).

Note that the system 100 of FIG. 1 is provided only as an example, andembodiments may be associated with additional elements or components.According to some embodiments, the elements of the system 100automatically facilitate creation of an industrial asset item for acustomer. For example, FIG. 2 illustrates a method 200 that might beperformed by the additive manufacturing platform 160 and/or otherelements of the system 100 described with respect to FIG. 1, or anyother system, according to some embodiments of the present invention.The flow charts described herein do not imply a fixed order to thesteps, and embodiments of the present invention may be practiced in anyorder that is practicable. Note that any of the methods described hereinmay be performed by hardware, software, or any combination of theseapproaches. For example, a computer-readable storage medium may storethereon instructions that when executed by a machine result inperformance according to any of the embodiments described herein.

At 210, the additive manufacturing platform may access an additivemanufacturing database storing electronic records including additivemanufacturing capability data. The additive manufacturing platform maythen transmit an indication of the additive manufacturing capabilitydata to a digital transaction engine (e.g., remote from the additivemanufacturing platform). According to some embodiments, the additivemanufacturing platform utilizes an additive manufacturing printerassociated with three-dimensional printing. In this case, the capabilitydata might be associated with a printer model, a resolution, a powder, adeadline, material specifications, process conditions, etc. As usedherein, the phrase “additive manufacturing” may refer to various typesof three-dimensional printing, including, for example, those describedin the American Society for Testing and Materials (“ASTM”) group “ASTMF42—Additive Manufacturing” standards. These include vatphotopolymerisation (using a vat of liquid photopolymer resin), materialjetting (where material is jetted onto a build platform), binder jetting(e.g., using a powder based material and a binder), material extrusionsuch as Fuse Deposition Modelling (“FDM”). powder bed fusion (e.g.,Direct Metal Laser Sintering (“DMLS”), Electron Beam Melting (“EBM”),etc.), a sheet lamination (including Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing(“UAM”) and Laminated Object Manufacturing (“LOM”)), and Directed EnergyDeposition (“DED”).

At 220, the additive manufacturing platform may receive an assignment ofan industrial asset file from a digital transaction engine. In somecases, the assignment might result from a customer platform, associatedwith a customer, transmitting an industrial asset item request for anindustrial asset item defined by the asset file. For example, theindustrial asset file might comprise a Computer Aided Design (“CAD”)file defining a three-dimensional “industrial asset” part (e.g., a gear,a fuel nozzle, etc.). As used herein, the phrase “industrial asset”might be associated with, for example, an engine, an aircraft, alocomotive, power generation, a wind turbine, etc. At 230, the additivemanufacturing platform communicates with an additive manufacturingprinter to create the industrial asset which can then be delivered tothe customer.

FIG. 3 is a method 300 that may be associated with the digitaltransaction engine 150 of FIG. 1 in accordance with some embodiments. At310, the digital transaction engine may receive additive manufacturingcapability data from one or more additive manufacturing platforms.Similarly, at 320 the digital transaction engine may receive one or moreindustrial asset item requests from one or more customer platforms. At330, the digital transaction engine may associate a particularindustrial asset item request with an industrial asset definition file.Note that the item request and/or the definition file might define, forexample, exactly how the item needs to be created (e.g., the physicaldesign, materials used, temperatures, tolerances, inspectionrequirements, turnaround time, price, etc.).

At 340, the digital transaction engine may, based on the additivemanufacturing capability data and the industrial asset definition file,assign the industrial asset item request to a selected additivemanufacturing platform. According to some embodiments, the digitaltransaction engine assigns the industrial asset item request to theselected additive manufacturing platform further based on a price, adeadline, a quantity (e.g., at least ten items might need to bedelivered), a quality, a geographic location (e.g., the platform mightneed to be located within a pre-approved country).

In some embodiments, the digital transaction engine may record theassignment of the industrial asset item request via a secure,distributed transaction ledger at 350 (e.g., associated with blockchaintechnology). According to some embodiments, transactions recorded usingblockchain technology might include information about an item quote, abid, an award selection, manufacturing capability sharing, anengineering model generation, engineering model distribution, additiveraw material procurement, supply, and readying, component manufacture,component inspection, component supply, a payment transaction (e.g.,including micro-payments and cryptographic payment systems such asbitcoin), etc.

According to some embodiments, a digital transaction engine communicateswith a plurality of additive manufacturing platforms (at least some ofwhich have differing additive manufacturing capability data) and/or aplurality of customer platforms requesting different industrial assetitems. Note that a digital transaction engine might be associated with asingle network cloud-hosted topology, a multiple network cloud-hostedtopology, and/or a participant hosted intranet environment.

FIG. 4 illustrates elements of a phased approach 400 to core digitaltransaction technology in accordance with some embodiments. Inparticular, the approach 400 might initially provide for transactionsand/or digital payments 410 for a digital transaction engine 450. Thismight provide the underlying structure of a digital ecosystem for thecreation of industrial asset items. The approach 400 might then providefor smart contracts and/or brokerage payment 420 and anonymity andprotections 430. For example, cryptocurrency might be used to create anopaque marketplace where identities are protected (as opposed totransparent marketplace). Finally, the conversions 440 may providestrong encryption for the precise control of advanced three-dimensionalprinting technologies, equipment, intellectual property, supply chainand pedigree histories, etc. As a result, counterfeit parts may bereduced and encrypted keys can be used to control access to equipment,build files, production volume and service contracts, etc. Mover, thesystem may be able to publish encrypted pedigree and transaction data tothe distributed ledger to help control knowledge flow from design,modeling, simulation, and manufacture through contractual services. Forexample, certified build data (e.g., describing a build process or athree-dimensional printer manufacturer), certified design data (e.g.,identifying a particular industrial asset item designer), and/orcertified powder data (e.g., identifying an entity that supplied thepowder used to create an industrial asset item).

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an additive digital ecosystem 500 accordingto some embodiments. The ecosystem 500 includes a digital transactionengine 550 that communicates with off-line optimization applications 520and real-time applications 530 via a digital services marketplace andcommunity. The digital transaction engine 550 might be associated with,for example, a content distribution and access management toolchain,system-level optimization, and/or multi-disciplinary optimization. Theoff-line optimization applications 520 might include designapplications, manufacturing planning applications, scan path generationapplications, etc. The real-time applications 530 might include, forexample, machine controls, in-line inspection, factory visualization,etc. Note that the off-line optimization applications 520 and/orreal-time applications 530 might support various item creation processessuch as design, manufacturing planning, scan path generation, build,in-line inspection, part creation, post-process inspection, etc. An itemcreation process 540 might interact, for example, with the off-lineoptimization applications 520 and/or real-time applications 530 tofacilitate creation of an industrial asset item. In this way, theecosystem 500 may provide improved outcomes (e.g., reducing designchanges to a day or less, a self-optimized build process, individualizedpart lifing and performance, etc.).

FIG. 6 is a high-level block diagram of a digital transaction system 600according to another embodiment. As before, a digital transaction engine650 may receive an industrial asset item request from a customerplatform 610. The digital transaction engine 650 may assign the requestto an appropriate additive manufacture platform 660 having an additivemanufacturing database 670 (e.g., locally storing capabilityinformation) and a three-dimensional printer 680. The printer 680 maythen create the item so that it can be provided to the customer whorequested it. Some or all of these steps might be recorded in a secure,distributed transaction ledger 690 (e.g., blockchain technology). Notethat the secure, distributed transaction ledger 690 might be directly orindirectly coupled to other element of the digital transaction system600 in addition to the digital transaction engine 650. In thisembodiment, a design platform 620 might work with the customer to createan appropriate definition file for the item (e.g., an appropriate shapeof the items, tools that need to be used to create the item, rawmaterials, etc.). According to some embodiments, the definition file maybe encrypted with a cryptographic signature and/or include pedigreedata. Note that the design platform 620 might provide multiple designsand/or definitions for a single item (e.g., different designs might beassociated with different additive manufacturing processes, differentprinter models, etc.).

FIG. 7 is an additive part production chain 700 enabled by a digitaltransaction engine in accordance with some embodiments. Again, a digitaltransaction engine 750 may receive an industrial asset item request froma customer platform 710. The digital transaction engine 750 may assignthe request to an appropriate additive manufacture platform 760 tocreate the item so that it can be provided to the customer who requestedit. Some or all of these steps might be recorded in a secure,distributed transaction ledger 790 (e.g., blockchain technology). Notethat the customer might submit a “brokered buy” to the digitaltransaction engine 750 (which can then determine that a virtualproduction bid is accepted and used to initiate a build process, obtainthe needed design, obtain required raw materials, etc.). In otherembodiments, a customer might instead send a “direct buy” to theadditive manufacturing platform 760. Moreover, in some embodiments, adesign platform 720 may arrange for a certified build, design, powder,etc.

Thus, embodiments may facilitate distribution of intellectual property(e.g., engineering models and data packages for manufacture usingadditive manufacturing technology) facilitated by blockchain technology.Moreover, distributed ledger transactions may be used to effect andverify transactions between end users (e.g., customer, manufacturer,etc.) and seller/lessors of intellectual property (e.g., engineeringmodels, technical data packages, processing conditions, inspection data,etc.) directly or through electronic intermediaries such as digitalmarketplaces. In addition, embodiments may provide a process for thedistribution of electronic data files through a single transaction (orseries of transactions) via the use of blockchain distributed ledgertechnology. According to some embodiments, two or more parties may usethe distributed ledger technology to record the economic exchange ofinformation necessary for the manufacture of additive manufacturedcomponents. For each intermediate step in the exchange of technicalinformation (e.g., including: quote, bid or award selection;manufacturing capability sharing; engineering model generation;engineering model distribution; additive raw material procurement,supply and readying; component manufacture; component inspection;component supply; and payment) a corresponding transaction may becreated. These transactions might be published in part (or in whole) tothe distributed ledger in un-encrypted or encrypted form as a means ofproviding an online pedigree of the manufactured component to interestedparties.

For a number of different reasons (such as the spread of industriallyrelevant additive manufacturing printing hardware, the increasingspecification of additive manufacturing process to manufacturecomponents, etc.) it may become economically advantageous to makeavailable digital files (containing intellectual property) to end usersfor the manufacture of components that are not in-house or captivecomponent suppliers. Therefore, it may be desirable to perform suchtransactions in a secure manner such that these digital engineeringfiles and manufacturing process techniques remain secure. Creation of adigital ecosystem with strong encryption for the precise control ofadvanced three-dimensional printing technology, equipment, intellectualproperty, manufacturing, supply chain and pedigree histories based uponthe use of a distributed ledger (e.g., a blockchain technology) may beprovided in accordance with some embodiments described herein.

In order to protect the intellectual property required to manufacturecomponents, requisite build files (e.g., engineering models, scan paths,etc.) and associated details (material specifications, lot data, machinespecifications, process conditions, etc.) must be managed so as tosecure the integrity of the data and limit theft (while still ensuringthe production of high quality components using validated techniques).Finally, a validation mechanism may help verify authenticity ofmanufactured components while also protecting data rights.

FIG. 8 is a system 800 implementing a digital transaction incorporatingblockchain validation according to some embodiments. A cloud-basedintegrity monitor 810 may provide transaction integrity data via a webbrowser and exchange information with a blockchain 820 and a digitaltransaction engine 850 via Representational State Transfer (“REST”) webservices. The REST web services may, for example, provideinteroperability between computer systems on the Internet (e.g., byallowing requesting systems to access and manipulate textualrepresentations of web resources using a uniform, predefined set ofstateless operations). According to some embodiments, portions of thedigital transaction engine 850 may be associated with a MySQL database.In this way, the digital transaction engine 850 and blockchain 820 canbe used to provide transaction level verification for a client 840.Although FIG. 8 illustrates a system 800 with a single blockchain 820and digital transaction engine 850, note that embodiments may employother topologies. For example, FIG. 9 is a system 900 implementing adigital transaction incorporating multiple digital transaction enginesin accordance with some embodiments. In particular, an additionalblockchain 922 and digital transaction engine 952 may provide protectionfor an additional client 942. As illustrated in FIG. 9, each digitaltransaction engine 950, 952 may be associated with multiple blockchains920, 922 providing additional protection for the system 900 (e.g., bystoring information at multiple, geographically disperse nodes makingattacks impractical). That is, each verifier (e.g., digital transactionengine) may commit a brief summary to an independent data store and,once recorded, the information cannot be changed without detection toprovide a tamper-proof System of Records (“SoR”).

Embodiments described herein may comprise a tool that facilitatescreation of an industrial asset item and may be implemented using anynumber of different hardware configurations. For example, FIG. 10illustrates a platform 1000 that may be, for example, associated withthe systems 100, 1000 of FIGS. 1 and 10, respectively (as well as othersystems described herein). The platform 1000 comprises a processor 1010,such as one or more commercially available Central Processing Units(“CPUs”) in the form of one-chip microprocessors, coupled to acommunication device 1020 configured to communicate via a communicationnetwork (not shown in FIG. 10). The communication device 1020 may beused to communicate, for example, with one or more remote platforms.Note that communications exchanged via the communication device 1020 mayutilize security features, such as those between a public interne userand an internal network of an insurance enterprise. The securityfeatures might be associated with, for example, web servers, firewalls,and/or PCI infrastructure. The platform 1000 further includes an inputdevice 1040 (e.g., a mouse and/or keyboard to enter information about adistributed ledger, a design file, etc.) and an output device 1050(e.g., to output pedigree reports, generate production status messages,etc.).

The processor 1010 also communicates with a storage device 1030. Thestorage device 1030 may comprise any appropriate information storagedevice, including combinations of magnetic storage devices (e.g., a harddisk drive), optical storage devices, mobile telephones, and/orsemiconductor memory devices. The storage device 1030 stores a program1012 and/or network security service tool or application for controllingthe processor 1010. The processor 1010 performs instructions of theprogram 1012, and thereby operates in accordance with any of theembodiments described herein. For example, the processor 1010 mayreceive additive manufacturing capability data and an industrial assetitem request. The processor 1010 may then associate the industrial assetitem request with an industrial asset definition file, and, based on theadditive manufacturing capability data and the industrial assetdefinition file, assign the industrial asset item request to a selectedadditive manufacturing platform. The assignment of the industrial assetitem request may be recorded via a secure, distributed transactionledger. Responsive to the assignment, the additive manufacturingplatform may create the industrial asset item (e.g., via an additivemanufacturing printer) and provide the item to the customer.

The program 1012 may be stored in a compressed, uncompiled and/orencrypted format. The program 1012 may furthermore include other programelements, such as an operating system, a database management system,and/or device drivers used by the processor 1010 to interface withperipheral devices.

As used herein, information may be “received” by or “transmitted” to,for example: (i) the platform 1000 from another device; or (ii) asoftware application or module within the platform 1000 from anothersoftware application, module, or any other source.

In some embodiments (such as shown in FIG. 10), the storage device 1030further stores manufacturing capability information 1060, industrialasset definition files 1070, and a transaction database 1100. An exampleof a database that might be used in connection with the platform 1000will now be described in detail with respect to FIG. 11. Note that thedatabase described herein is only an example, and additional and/ordifferent information may be stored therein. Moreover, various databasesmight be split or combined in accordance with any of the embodimentsdescribed herein. For example, the transaction database 1100 andindustrial asset definition files 1070 might be combined and/or linkedto each other within the program 1012.

Referring to FIG. 11, a table is shown that represents the transactiondatabase 1100 that may be stored at the platform 1000 in accordance withsome embodiments. The table may include, for example, entriesidentifying transactions associated with the creation of items forcustomers. The table may also define fields 1102, 1104, 1106, 1108,1110, 1112, 1114 for each of the entries. The fields 1102, 1104, 1106,1108, 1110, 1112, 1114 may, according to some embodiments, specify:transaction identifier 1102, a customer platform identifier 1104, a dateand time 1106, a status 1108, a blockchain result 1110, a printeridentifier 1112, and an industrial asset definition file 1114. Thetransaction database 1100 may be created and updated, for example, basedon information electrically received from remote customer platforms,additive manufacturer platforms, and/or distributed ledger devices.

The transaction identifier 1102 may be, for example, a uniquealphanumeric code identifying a transaction (or sub-step of atransaction) being executed by a digital transaction engine. Thecustomer platform identifier 1104 might indicate the customer whoinitiated the transaction by requesting the part. The date and time 1106might indicate when the particular sub-step was completed and recordedin a ledger. The status 1108 might indicate if the transaction isin-process or has been completed. The blockchain result 1110 mightindicate whether or not the information has been verified via adistributed ledger. Note that other techniques could be used inadditional to, or instead of, a blockchain process (and may or may notbe included in the transaction database 1100). The printer identifier1112 might indicate which device is going to create (or has created) theindustrial asset item, and the industrial asset definition file 1114might contain a CAD file or link to a location where informationdefining the item is stored.

Embodiments may be associated with any type of distributed ledger havinga de-centralized consensus-based network that supports smart contracts,digital assets, record repositories, and/or cryptographic security. Forexample, FIG. 12 is a distributed ledger reference architecture 1200according to some embodiments. The architecture 1200 includes ledgerservices and an event stream 1210 that may contain network securityservice information (e.g., from a digital transaction engine).Membership services 1220 (e.g., including registration, identitymanagements, and/or an auditability process) may manage identity,privacy, and confidentially for membership 1250 for the network securityservice. Blockchain services (e.g., including a consensus manager,Peer-to-Peer (“P2P”) protocol, a distributed ledger, and/or ledgerstorage) may manage the distributed ledger through a P2P protocol builton HTTP to maintain a single state that replicated at many nodes tosupport blockchains 1260 and transactions 1270. Chaincode services 1240(e.g., secure container and/or a secure registry associated with a smartcontract) may help compartmentalize smart contract (or chaincode 1280)execution on validating nodes. Note that the environment may be a“locked down” and secured container with a set of signed base imagesthat contain a secure OS and programming languages. Finally, APIs,Software Development Kits (“SDKs”), and/or a Command Line Interface(“CLI”) may be utilized to support a network security service via thereference architecture 1200.

Thus, some embodiments described herein may use blockchain technology toallow for the economic creation and distribution of engineering modelsrequired for manufacture in an advantageous manner. In addition, thecreation of an independently verifiable pedigree viewable by accessingan online transaction record (as provided by the blockchain) may helpeliminate counterfeit parts.

The following illustrates various additional embodiments of theinvention. These do not constitute a definition of all possibleembodiments, and those skilled in the art will understand that thepresent invention is applicable to many other embodiments. Further,although the following embodiments are briefly described for clarity,those skilled in the art will understand how to make any changes, ifnecessary, to the above-described apparatus and methods to accommodatethese and other embodiments and applications.

Although specific hardware and data configurations have been describedherein, note that any number of other configurations may be provided inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention (e.g., some of theinformation described herein may be combined or stored in externalsystems). Moreover, although embodiments have been described withrespect to industrial control systems, note that embodiments might beassociated with other types of computing systems, includingnon-industrial control systems and processors in general. Similarly, thedisplays shown and described herein are provided only as examples, andother types of displays and display devices may support any of theembodiments. For example, FIG. 13 illustrates a digital transactionengine display 1300 that might utilize an interactive graphical userinterface. The display 1300 might comprise a graphical overview of thedevices associated with the item creation process and selection of anelement on the display 1300 might result in further information aboutthat element. As another example, FIG. 14 illustrates a tablet computer1400 providing a pedigree information display 1410 according to someembodiments. In particular, the pedigree information display 1410 may bean interactive user interface (e.g., via a touchscreen) and includes ablockchain validation status 1420 in accordance with any of theembodiments described herein.

Although embodiments have been described in connection with the creationof industrial asset items for customers, note that embodiments mightinstead be utilized to facilitate a spread and/or sale of information.For example, FIG. 15 is an intellectual property marketplace system 1500in according with another embodiment. In this example, an intellectualproperty marketplace engine 1550 may receive an intellectual propertyrequest from a customer platform 1510. The intellectual propertymarketplace engine 1550 may assign the request to an appropriate contentdistribution platform 1560 having a locally stored content database 1570(e.g., storing capability information). The content distributionplatform 1560 can retrieve content from the content database 1570 andtransmit it to the customer platform. Some or all of these steps mightbe recorded in a secure, distributed transaction ledger 1590 (e.g.,blockchain technology). In this embodiment, a design platform 1520 mightwork with the customer and/or content distribution platform to create anappropriate definition file for the item (e.g., a database query, aselection of an entertainment program, etc.). According to someembodiments, the definition file may be encrypted with a cryptographicsignature and/or include pedigree data. Note that the design platform1520 might provide multiple designs and/or definitions for a single item(e.g., different designs might be associated with different contentdistribution platforms 1560, client viewing devices, etc.). Note thatintellectual property request might be associated with, by ways ofexamples only, an entertainment program, a database search result (e.g.,with more specific results costing more as compared to less specificqueries), consumer information (e.g., activity tracking data gathered bya large number of people wearing fitness devices), health information(e.g., the results of a health study collecting data from a substantialnumber of patients), etc.

The present invention has been described in terms of several embodimentssolely for the purpose of illustration. Persons skilled in the art willrecognize from this description that the invention is not limited to theembodiments described, but may be practiced with modifications andalterations limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

1. A system to facilitate creation of an industrial asset item,comprising: an additive manufacturing platform, including: an additivemanufacturing database storing electronic records including additivemanufacturing capability data, an additive manufacturing communicationport to exchange information with a digital transaction engine, and anadditive manufacturing computer processor coupled to the additivemanufacturing communication port and adapted to transmit an indicationof the additive manufacturing capability data to the digital transactionengine; a customer platform, associated with a customer, to transmit anindustrial asset item request for the industrial asset item; and thedigital transaction engine, including: a digital transactioncommunication port to exchange information with the additivemanufacturing platform and the customer platform, and a digitaltransaction engine computer processor coupled to the digital transactioncommunication port and adapted to: receive the additive manufacturingcapability data from the additive manufacturing platform, receive theindustrial asset item request from the customer platform, associate theindustrial asset item request with an industrial asset definition file,based on the additive manufacturing capability data and the industrialasset definition file, assign the industrial asset item request to theadditive manufacturing platform, and record the assignment of theindustrial asset item request via a secure, distributed transactionledger.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the additive manufacturingplatform further comprises: an additive manufacturing printer associatedwith at least one of: (i) three-dimensional printing, (ii) vatphotopolymerization, (iii) material jetting, (iv) binder jetting, (vi)material extrusion, (vii) powder bed fusion, (viii) sheet lamination,and (ix) directed energy deposition.
 3. The system of claim 2, whereinthe additive manufacturing computer processor is further adapted to:responsive to the assignment of the industrial asset item request,communicate data associated with the industrial asset definition file tothe additive manufacturing printer to facilitate creation of theindustrial asset item.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein the additivemanufacturing computer process is further adapted to: arrange fordelivery of the industrial asset item to the customer.
 5. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the secure, distributed transaction ledger comprisesblockchain technology.
 6. The system of claim 5, wherein transactionsrecorded using blockchain technology are associated with at least oneof: (i) a quote, (ii) a bid, (iii) an award selection, (iv)manufacturing capability sharing, (v) an engineering model generation,(vi) engineering model distribution, (vii) additive raw materialprocurement, supply, and readying, (viii) component manufacture, (ix)component inspection, (x) component supply, and (xi) payment.
 7. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the digital transaction engine communicateswith a plurality of additive manufacturing platforms, at least some ofwhich have differing additive manufacturing capability data, and aplurality of customer platforms requesting different industrial assetitems.
 8. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a design platformto create the industrial asset definition file, wherein the industrialasset definition file is encrypted with a cryptographic signature andinclude pedigree data.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the digitaltransaction engine assigns the industrial asset item request to theadditive manufacturing platform further based on at least one of: (i) aprice, (ii) a deadline, (iii) a quantity, (iv) a quality, and (v) ageographic location.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the additivemanufacturing capability data is associated with at least one of: (i) aprinter model, (ii) a resolution, (iii) a powder, (iv) a deadline, (v)material specifications, and (vi) process conditions.
 11. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the customer platform is associated with at least oneof: (i) a personal computer, (ii) a tablet computer, (iii) a servercomputer, and (iv) a smartphone.
 12. The system of claim 1, wherein thedigital transaction engine is associated with at least one of: (i) asingle network cloud-hosted topology, (ii) a multiple networkcloud-hosted topology, and (iii) a participant hosted intranetenvironment.
 13. The system of claim 1, wherein the industrial assetitem is associated with at least one of: (i) an engine, (ii) anaircraft, (iii) a locomotive, (iv) power generation, and (v) a windturbine.
 14. A computer-implemented method to facilitate creation of anindustrial asset item, comprising: receiving, at a digital transactionengine from an additive manufacturing platform, an indication ofadditive manufacturing capability data; receiving, at the digitaltransaction engine from a customer platform, associated with a customer,an industrial asset item request for the industrial asset item;associating the industrial asset item request with an industrial assetdefinition file; based on the additive manufacturing capability data andthe industrial asset definition file, assigning the industrial assetitem request to the additive manufacturing platform; and recording theassignment of the industrial asset item request via a secure,distributed transaction ledger.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein theadditive manufacturing capability data is associated with at least oneof: (i) three-dimensional printing, (ii) vat photopolymerization, (iii)material jetting, (iv) binder jetting, (vi) material extrusion, (vii)powder bed fusion, (viii) sheet lamination, and (ix) directed energydeposition.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the secure, distributedtransaction ledger comprises blockchain technology.
 17. The method ofclaim 16, wherein transactions recorded using blockchain technology areassociated with at least one of: (i) a quote, (ii) a bid, (iii) an awardselection, (iv) manufacturing capability sharing, (v) an engineeringmodel generation, (vi) engineering model distribution, (vii) additiveraw material procurement, supply, and readying, (viii) componentmanufacture, (ix) component inspection, (x) component supply, and (xi)payment.
 18. The method of claim 1, wherein the digital transactionengine communicates with a plurality of additive manufacturingplatforms, at least some of which have differing additive manufacturingcapability data, and a plurality of customer platforms requestingdifferent industrial asset items.
 19. A system associated with adistribution of intellectual property, comprising: a contentdistribution platform, including: a content database storing electronicrecords including content distribution capability data, a contentdistribution communication port to exchange information with aintellectual property marketplace engine, and a content distributioncomputer processor coupled to the content distribution communicationport and adapted to transmit an indication of the content distributioncapability data to the intellectual property marketplace engine; acustomer platform, associated with a customer, to transmit a contentrequest for intellectual property; and the intellectual propertymarketplace engine, including: an intellectual property communicationport to exchange information with the content distribution platform andthe customer platform, and an intellectual property marketplace enginecomputer processor coupled to the intellectual property marketplacecommunication port and adapted to: receive the content distributioncapability data from the content distribution platform, receive theintellectual property request from the customer platform, associate theintellectual property request with an intellectual property file, basedon the content distribution capability data and the intellectualproperty file, assign the intellectual property request to the contentdistribution platform, and record the assignment of the intellectualproperty request via a secure, distributed transaction ledger.
 20. Thesystem of claim 19, wherein the secure, distributed transaction ledgercomprises blockchain technology.
 21. The system of claim 20, wherein theintellectual property request is associated with at least one of: (i) anentertainment program, (ii) a database search result, (iii) consumerinformation, and (iv) health information.
 22. The system of claim 21,wherein the intellectual property marketplace further arranges for thecustomer to provide a payment associated with at least one of: (i) anonline payment, (ii) a micropayment, (iii) a credit account payment,(iv) a debit account payment, and (iii) a cryptocurrency and digitalpayment system.